Torsken Municipality

Torsken (Doaskku suohkan) is a former municipality that was located on the western coast of the large island of Senja in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new Senja Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Gryllefjord. Other larger villages in Torsken Municipality included the villages of Torsken, Medby, and Flakstadvåg.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 243 km2 municipality was the 310th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Torsken was also the 403rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 931. The municipality's population density was 3.8 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 1.6% over the previous decade.

The historic Torsken Church in the village of Torsken dates back to the 18th century. Ånderdalen National Park was partially located inside the old borders of both Torsken Municipality and neighboring Tranøy Municipality.

General information
Torsken Municipality was established on 1 January 1902 when it was separated from Berg. The initial population of Torsken was 1,229. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Rødsand area of Torsken (population: 160) was transferred to the neighboring Tranøy Municipality.

In March 2017, the Parliament of Norway voted to merge Berg Municipality, Torsken Municipality, Lenvik Municipality, and Tranøy Municipality. The new municipality would encompass the whole island of Senja plus part of the mainland located between the Gisundet strait and the Malangen fjord. On 1 January 2020, Torsken Municipality ceased to exist when it became part of the new Senja Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Torsken farm (Þoskar) since the first Torsken Church was built there. The farm (and municipal) name were taken from the nearby mountain, Torsken. The name comes from the word which means "cod". (Several mountains in Norway are named after their likeness with a fish.)

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 23 March 1990. The official blazon is "Sable, a cross moline Or" (I svart et gull ankerkors). This means the arms have a black field (background) and the charge is a cross moline (ankerkors; lit. 'anchor cross'). The cross moline has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The cross is a symbol for both Christianity and the importance of the local harbor. The economy of Torsken is largely dependent on its harbors and an anchor cross is an appropriate symbol. The arms were designed by Ivar Enoksen.

Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Torsken Municipality. It was part of the Senja prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Economy
Most of the inhabitants of the municipality lived in the fishing village of Gryllefjord in the northern part of the municipality. The second most important village was Torsken, only a few kilometers to the south. Kaldfarnes/Medby, Grunnfarnes, and Flakstadvåg were other fishing villages further south. The municipality was close to the resources of the major fishing grounds off the Vesterålen archipelago, and 2004 landed 9.8 million tons of fish with a value of NOK76.3 million for fish-processing in Torsken, Gryllefjord, Kaldfarnes, and Grunnfarnes. Most people worked in the fishing or fish processing industries.

The municipality had few productive forests, but there were some spruce trees planted in sheltered areas. In the southern parts of Torsken there was some usable farmland. There were five farms with more than 5 daa of agricultural land in the entire municipality (as of 1999).

Transportation
The Andenes–Gryllefjord Ferry went across the Andfjorden to the village of Andenes on the island of Andøya. The ferry was operated during about two months each summer. The road from the northern part of the municipality to Kaldfarnes, Grunnfarnes, and Flakstadvåg was far from direct. One had to drive north and then east into the neighboring Berg Municipality and then south into Tranøy Municipality before turning northwest and returning to Torsken Municipality. These were the only road connections from the rest of Norway into Torsken.

Government
While it existed, Torsken Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality fell under the Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Torsken was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayor (ordfører) of Torsken was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:


 * 1902-1910: Edvard Pedersen
 * 1911-1916: M.F. Carlsen
 * 1917-1919: Christian Eilertsen
 * 1920-1923: M.F. Carlsen
 * 1923-1928: Harry Alvær (V)
 * 1928-1932: M.F. Carlsen
 * 1932-1934: Harry Alvær (V)
 * 1935-1941: Ingvald Johansen (V)
 * 1941-1942: Harry Alvær (V)
 * 1942-1945: Hjalmar Johansen
 * 1945-1945: Ingvald Johansen (V)
 * 1946-1951: Arthur Brox (V)
 * 1951-1955: Arne Andreassen (Ap)
 * 1956-1957: Ingvald Johansen (V)
 * 1958-1959: Arne Andreassen (Ap)
 * 1960-1963: Ingvald Johansen (V)
 * 1964-1967: Konrad Fagerthun (Ap)
 * 1968-1975: Ottar Jakobsen (Ap)
 * 1975-1979: Ottar Alver (Ap)
 * 1979-1983: Oddmund Thobiassen (Ap)
 * 1983-1987: Atle Hilmarsen (Ap)
 * 1987-1991: Annie Ingvarda Halvorsen (Ap)
 * 1991-2007: Hans Peder Pedersen (Sp)
 * 2007–2019: Fred Flakstad (Ap)

Geography
Torsken was a rugged area along the west coast of the island of Senja. Many different fjords cut into its mountainous coastline including Sifjorden, Selfjorden, Torskefjorden, Gryllefjorden, and Skipsfjorden. Between mountain peaks that ranged from 600 to 1000 m, there were deep valleys and narrow depressions. The highest point in the municipality was the 963.4 m tall mountain Kvænan. Many of the valleys contained marshes or lakes. The bedrock under Torsken consisted mostly of gneiss and granite.